I love Punjabi cinema and want it to grow, says Gippy Grewal

Punjabi actor and singer Gippy Grewal is a busy man. He recently launched his second production house, Big Daddy Films, in March this year, and has already announced two films that are being backed by it. He owns the production house Humble Motion Pictures and the music label Humble Music. Having released three films in 2021 and a host of songs and music videos, he has a full slate of upcoming films. 

Maa review: Divya Dutta shines in this moving tribute to parents

In an exclusive conversation, Grewal talks about his latest film, Maa (2022), which stars Divya Dutta. Directed by Baljit Singh Deo, the film has been written by Rana Ranbir and produced by Ravneet Kaur Grewal and Gippy Grewal.  

Speaking about the idea for the film, Grewal said, “I had this idea for some time in my mind. Every person loves their mother immensely, as do I. My father passed away at an early age and my mother is the one who brought us up. There are several things that keep changing in our lives as time passes. When a child is young, he is attached to his mother and when he grows up he does things according to his own choice and also listens to his mother, but after some time, he feels that what does his mother know and says, ‘I know everything’.

"So, at some point, we start ignoring that very mother who teaches a child everything that he knows. It’s not that we don’t love her but this is something that happens in the course of life. I also used to do this and feel guilty about this behaviour and tried to bring forward such a subject. A mother keeps many things in her heart that she cannot tell her child. I thought to say all these things through a film so that children realize what mothers feel upon our actions.” 

Although the theme of the social film is not an extraordinary one, it nonetheless holds a crucial message and also pays tribute to parents. “There is nothing out of the ordinary or phenomenal in this film. It is a story that happens every day. It’s a simple story about everyday life. You behave this way with your mother, I do so with mine, and our children do so with us. There is a generation gap. As one person put it, ‘All my life I felt that my parents were wrong but the day I realized that they were right, my own children started saying that I was wrong’.”

The film presents a mother in all her different emotions — from a loving, caring one to a person who will do anything for her family. Grewal wanted to bring together all the shades of a mother in one character.

"Divya ji carried that character so beautifully. I told her that if she would not accept the role, I would not make this film. I know actors will think several times when you ask them to play a 60-70-year-old character and think, ‘Why should I play an old person?' But I really felt that when I tell them about the role, a true actor would do it,” he said.

Beginning his career in films with Mel Karade Rabba (2010), the actor who has spent more than a decade in cinema seems to only be gearing up to achieve bigger milestones.

Discussing his journey in Punjabi cinema and his hopes for its future, he said, “I feel blessed. I feel that I got very good films that have been path-breaking films. Mel Karade Rabba was a different film [for its time]. Jihne Mera Dil Luteya (2011) was the highest grosser [that year], followed by Carry On Jatta (2012). Then with Ardaas (2016), we changed the direction of things again, followed by Warning (2021), a hard-core action film, and now we have brought Maa."

Grewal said he has tried a lot of things in cinema but would like to attempt many more. "I love Punjabi cinema and want it to grow. People say that wherever you go [in the world], Punjabi people are there. I want that wherever you go, Punjabi films should be there as well, so that’s my dream and we are making a lot of efforts for it,” the artiste said.

“I have a lot of hopes and even with my new production house [Big Daddy Films], we are doing films of different genres like Warning (2021), on different subjects that are out of the box, where films will not be similar to each other. I want that there is a wide variety of films. Big Daddy Films is making Carry on Jatta 3, Manje Bistre 3 and the next part of Ardaas as well as films that people would have never thought would be made in Punjabi cinema,” he added.

Maa was released around Mother’s Day, which is especially significant given its subject. “We kept the film on hold for a while because last year, Mother’s Day had passed by during the pandemic, so we waited for a year to release the film. I wish that parents take their children along and children take their parents along to watch this film. It’s a film to be watched together. When you come away from watching the film, you will feel its impact in your daily life.”